Nottinghamshire EncroChat drug dealers jailed after network hack

Lee Bennett (left) and Jamie Wilkinson (right) were hired as drug couriers by David Martin (centre)

A drug trafficker and two couriers have been jailed after police hacked into an encrypted criminal phone network.

The men used EncroChat to arrange transporting £300,000 worth of cocaine and heroin from Liverpool to Nottinghamshire.

They discussed borrowing an ambulance to move the drugs and dressing women up as nurses to bypass coronavirus restrictions, police said.

Nottinghamshire Police have described the case as a "massive breakthrough".

David Martin, 42, of Third Avenue, Rainworth recruited drug couriers, Lee Bennett, 30, and Jamie Wilkinson, 45, as part of the deal.

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All three men were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply a controlled Class A drug.

Martin was sentenced to nine years in jail.

Wilkinson, of Ash Crescent, Nuthall, was jailed for four-and-a-half years and Bennett, of Kenbrook Road, Hucknall, was given a three-and-a-half year sentence.

EncroChat has been described by the National Crime Agency as a "criminal marketplace" used to trade drugs and guns.

In June last year it was successfully hacked in an operation led by French and Dutch police.

Nottinghamshire Police said this is the first time the force had successfully prosecuted some of those that were exposed.

Bennett and Wilkinson were sent to Liverpool to collect £300,000 worth of cocaine and heroin

Martin was a "highly-placed member of a criminal drug dealing organisation", the force said.

He was using EncroChat to negotiate the supply of drugs into Nottinghamshire between 31 March and 8 June 2020.

Police said Martin used the nickname Steelwhale and was boasting on the network about his business with suppliers in Liverpool.

They said he also discussed borrowing an ambulance to transport the drugs and dressing women up as nurses while coronavirus travel restrictions were in place.

Bennett and Wilkinson were sent to collect 5kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin to the value of £300,000 and bring it back to Nottinghamshire, the force said.

Det Supt Mike Allen, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Those committing some of the most serious crimes and who have thought of themselves as untouchable have been the authors of their own demise after policing gained access to their criminal marketplace and gathered evidence quietly.

"Such criminals deserve to spend their time in prison and whilst they are behind bars they are no longer a menace to the good people of Nottinghamshire."

Both Bennett and Wilkinson were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £181.